Feeder air glide bar



Jan. 13,1970

J. c. ACKERMAN FEEDER AIR GLIDE BAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 21.1967 j' .1

Jan. 13, 1970 J. c. ACKERMAN I FEEDER AIR GLIDE BAR 2 Sheet s-Sheet 2Filed Sept. 21. 1967 United States Patent 3,489,407 FEEDER AIR GLIDE BARJacob Carl Ackerman, 842 Cedar Ave., Elmhurst, Ill. 60126 Filed Sept.21, 1967, Ser. No. 669,539 Int. Cl. B65h 5/02, 29/24; B65g 31/00 U.S.Cl. 27145 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates toan improvement in paper sheet feeder devices having a plurality ofconveyor tapes which advance sheets of paper over a feeder table. Moreparticularly, it relates to the disposition of an air dispersing conduitat the input end of the feeder table to provide a forwardly moving sheetof air beneath the paper sheets and along the length of the feedertable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In paper sheet feeder devices currently inuse, a stock pile of sheets to be printed is ordinarily arranged at therear end of a feeder table. The sheets are lifted, one at a time, fromthe top of the pile by vacuum nozzles. As each sheet is lifted, airblast nozzles at the rear of the stock pile provide a cushion of airbeneath the sheetwhile the vacuum nozzles apply tension to it. In suchtensioned, suspended state, each sheet is fed between forwarder rollersand tape conveyor rollers located at the rear end of the feeder table.From the rollers the sheets are conveyed on tapes passing over the tapeconveyor rollers along the length of the feeder table to a registertable where they are aligned by front edge guide bars (front guides) forentry into the press mechanism.

As the sheets traverse the feeder table en route to the register tablethey are held against the tapes by means of one or more heavy steelhold-down rollers which depend from hold-down rods above the tapes.

Substantial difficulty has been encountered, however, in feeding thesheets smoothly along the feeder table into the front guides on theregister table. Although the air cushion provided by the air blastnozzles at the rear of the stock pile initially faciliates movement ofthe sheets beneath the forwarder rollers, that cushion soon dissipates.The sheets are then conveyed down the length of the feeder tables by theforward motion of the tapes moving beneath the steel rollers on thehold-down rods. Apparently due to the intervention of frictional forcesand static electricity, the sheets often become so misaligned while onthe feeder table that when they arrive at the front end of that tableproper alignment is not automatically possible and smooth, continuousoperation of the feeder mechanism must be interrupted.

Moreover, even if the sheets maintain regular alignment as they travelalong the feeder table, the static electricity which they pick up therefrequently causes them to cling together or onto the register table. Thesheets thus become misaligned as the feeder mechanism attempts tointroduce them evenly and one by one into the front guides. When suchmisalignment and adherence occur, stoppage or slowdown of the feedingprocess results, or sheets may even be run through the press back toback.

A further substantial difliculty has been encountered when the feederdevice is used to handle sheets of paper which have become wavy as aresult of such conditions as variation in the moisture content of thestock or improper storage of the stock. Even though such sheets enterthe front guides on the register table with straight front edges, as aresult of the action of straightening devices positioned below theregister table, the body and trailing edges remain wavy. The result isthat the sheets become wrinkled as they travel through the, press andmust be rejected. To combat waviness, a fillet, commonly called abustle, is fixed to the top surface of the feeder table to raisedrooping portions of the trailing edge of each sheet to a position whichis even with the rest of the rear edge. Such an expedient temporarilyachieves horizontally even rear edges of the sheets, but the stock pileis rarely uniform. The bustle must be changed often, thus causingfrequent shutdowns of the feeding process and lost time in the printingoperation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed tointroducing a sheet of air beneath the paper sheets adjacent their pointof entry onto the conveyor tapes travelling over the feeder table. Thesheet of air thus introduced supplements air from the air blast nozzlesat the rear of the stock pile and travels along the length of thesurface of the feeder table. The sheets are supported by thesupplementing sheet of air as well as by the tapes en route to theregister table. This results in an even, regular alignment of the sheetswhile they travel over the feeder table, and it overcomes the elfects ofstatic electricity on the sheets at the register table. Such a sheet ofsupplementing air, furthermore, smooths rippled or wrinkled stock at theforward end of the feeder table and elminiates the need for theexpedient of a bustle.

Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention toprovide apparatus for directing a sheet of impelled air upon and alongthe length of the surface of the table to assist the forward movement ofpaper sheets thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide an air dispersing conduitfor actively and evenly distributing a sheet of impelled air upon andalong the length of the surface of the feeder table.

A further object of the invention is to obtain a flow of air over thesurface of the table supplementing an air cushion from air blast nozzleslocated at the rear of a stock pile of paper sheets.

A further object of the invention is to provide a flow of air over thelength of the surface of a feeder table to counteract frictional andstatic electricity forces which interfere with the orderly progress ofpaper sheets along the conveyor tapes traversing the feeder table.

Thus, in a paper sheet feeder device having a sheet feeder table, afront tape roller adjacent the front end of the table, a plurality ofintermediate tape rollers opposite the front roller and adjacent therear end of the table, a rear tape roller spaced from the rear end ofthe table adjacent the intermediate tape rollers, and a plurality ofcontinuous paper sheet conveyor tapes mounted on the rollers movable ina forward direction over the table toward said front end, an airdispersing conduit is provided adjacent the rear end of the table, whichconduit includes a plurality of air jet ports for directing a sheet ofimpelled air upon and along the length of the surface of the table.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from an examination of the following detailedspecification, and of the I accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a portion of a paper sheet feederdevice;

FIG. 2 is a partial top plan view;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the apparatus taken along line 33 in FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front elevation view partially broken away of aportion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation view;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 66 in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, a sheet of paper 10,shown in dotted lines, is shown being advanced in the direction of arrow12 toward a register table 13 of a printing press over a feeder table 14in a sheet feeder device. The sheet has been lifted into position andstarted between forwarder rollers 16 and a rear tape convey-0r roller 18by vacuum nozzles 20. A front tape conveyor roller 22 is disposed at theforward end of the feeder table 14. Conveyor tapes 24 move in a forwarddirection over the surface of the table to carry the paper sheet up tothe register table onto the latter table over bridges 13a and into frontguide bars 13b. Intermediate conveyor tape rollers 26a, 26b and 26c (seeFIG. 3) are provided in the feeder apparatus to maintain appropriatetension on the conveyor tapes and positioned to provide a slightdownward slope toward the front of the feeder table, thus keeping thetapes in motion and assisting sheet 10 over the table. Above the tapes,hold-down rods 28 are arranged to suspend holddown rollers 30 over thetable to keep sheet 10 in contact with the tapes.

Attached to a stationary shaft 32 is a support bracket 34 formaintaining an air glide bar 36 adjacent the rear end of the feedertable. The air glide bar includes an air dispersing conduit 38 having aplurality of air jet ports 40 along the length thereof. As shown in FIG.4, the air jet ports are angularly positioned with respect to each otherthrough the upper surface of conduit 38 so that air forced through theports will be impelled upward past the conveyor tapes. When the airconduit is adapted for use in a wide feeder mechanism handling widesheets of paper, it may be assembled in lengths having a sealing,twist-lock engagement, such as lock 42, which will ermit air passagethrough the entire length of the conduit assembly.

Along the rear of the conduit a curved deflector plate 44 is attached toextend over the jet ports 40. The streams of impelled air issuing fromthe jet ports are thus deflected and directed over the surface of thefeeder table. It has been found desirable that the deflector plate beadjustably attached to conduit 38 so that the deflector may bepositioned immediately beneath the conveyor tapes. Thus, vertical slots46 are provided in the lower edge of the deflector tofit over studs 48aflixed to the conduit, thereby permitting the deflector to be locked inposition when wing nuts 50 are secured.

As shown in the drawings, a support bracket 34 is provided, preferablyat each end of the air glide bar. A clamp 52 is attached to thestationary shaft 32. Attached to the clamp is a short shaft 54 ontowhich a swivel head 56 is mounted to receive, in turn, the body of ayoke 58. A sleeve 60 attached to the yoke is adapted to slide over theend of the air conduit 38 and clamped onto the conduit by means of setscrew 50a, without blocking the air jet ports 40. The body of yoke 58may be raised or lowered from the swivel head by means of set screw 62,thus providing means for raising or lowering the air glide bar. Also,the bar may be moved in a horizontal arc and clamped in position bymeans of set screw 64 which impinges upon the pivot rod 66. The airglide bar may thereby be inserted alongside the intermediate roller 260between the upper and lower portions of conveyor tapes 24 to direct asheet of impelled air over the feeder table.

When the air glide bar 36 has been positioned in the feeder, as abovedescribed, compressed air may be introduced into the bar through a hose68 attached to coupling 70 at one end of Conduit 38. Hose 68 may beconnected to conduit 38 from an independent source of compressed air(not shown) regulated by an adjustable reducing valve 72 (see FIG. 7),an air cushion tank 74 (for maintaining constant pressure) and asolenoid-operated shutoff valve 76. In the event that the source ofcompressed air is one of the tanks of a printing press to which thefeeder is engaged, the valve 76 may be omitted, since the air pressurewill cease when the press is turned off.

In operation, an air glide bar as above described, which may be about74" long, will receive air under pressure normally in the range of 0.5to 15.0 p.s.i., depending upon the weight of the paper stock to beprinted. This pressure will be sufficient, if the jet ports 40 arespaced 1" apart and are approximately 0.036" in diameter, to cause theair to be deflected on the deflector plate 44 and travel along thelength of a feeder table which is on the order of wide and 51" long. Asthe sheets of paper to be printed are fed over such a table, the airissuing from the bar will form an active sheet beneath and around theconveyor tapes which will carry the paper smoothly onto the registertable and into front guides 13b. It is thus unnecessary to attempt toforce the rear air blast nozzles in the feeder beyond their capacity andnormal function, and the sheets of paper inserted in the feeder will becushioned on the air from the glide bar as it travels on the conveyortapes.

In the past, if wavy sheets of paper stock were fed over the feedertable, it was necessary to even out the rear edges of such sheets beforethe sheets were introduced into the press. A fillet, commonly called abustle, was positioned on the feed board adjacent the front tapeconveyor roller to cause drooping portions of the rear edges of thesheets to be lifted into a straight horizontal line. Such a fillet 78, ametal bar approximately 1 /2 wide and 24" long, is shown aflixed to thefeeder table 14 with tapes 80. When the air glide bar 36 is inoperation, however, it is unnecessary to adopt the use of fillet 78,since the sheet of supplementing air provided by bar 36 will float outthe rear edges of the paper sheets evenly before they pass the registertable.

While a particular embodiment of this invention is shown above, it willbe understood, of course, that the invention is not limited thereto,since many modifications may be made, and it is contemplated, therefore,by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications as fall withinthe true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a paper sheet feeder device of the type having a sheet feedertable and a register table, a front tape roller adjacent the front endof the feeder table, a plurality of intermediate tape rollers oppositethe front roller adjacent the rear end of the feeder table, said feedertable extending at least most of the distance between the intermediateand front rollers, a rear tape roller spaced from the rear end of thefeeder table adjacent the intermediate tape rollers, and a plurality ofcontinuous paper sheet conveyor tapes mounted on the rollers movable ina forward direction over the feeder table toward said front end, theimprovement comprising an air conduit disposed adjacent and alongsubstantially the entire width of the rear end of the feeder table, saidconduit including a plurality of air jet ports spaced close to eachother and along substantially the entire width of the rear end of thefeeder table for providing and directing a sheet of impelled air uponand along the length of the surface of the feeder table.

2. The improvement of claim 1 in which the air conduit is disposedbetween the intermediate rollers and the rear roller.

3. The improvement of claim 1 in which the conduit includes an airdeflector plate over the air jet ports for diffusing and directing theimpelled air from the ports along the feeder table.

4. The improvement of claim 1 in which the conduit air jet ports fordiffusing and directing the impelled air from the air jet ports alongthe feeder table, the air jet ports being directed at varied angles inrelation to each other toward the deflector.

5. The improvement of claim 1 in which the conduit includes adjustablemounting supports connecting said conduit in releasable variableengagement to the feeder frame.

6. The method of feeding paper sheets to be printed over a feeder tablein a paper sheet feeding device which comprises introducing a sheet ofair under pressure adjacent the input end of the feeder table anddirecting said sheet of air between the paper sheets and substantiallythe entire surface of the table along the length of the table to theoutput end thereof.

RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGNPATENTS 9/1963 France.

References Cited US. Cl. X.R.

